5-time Grand Slam winner and tennis superstar Maria Sharapova, 32, announced that she will be retiring from tennis.
After earning millions of dollars from her Grand Slam tennis titles (Wimbledon 2004, US Open 2006, Australian Open 2008, French Open 2012, 2014), endorsements, dating Maroon 5 front man Adam Levine and then Sasha Vujacic of the Lakers, failing a Meldonium drug test in 2016 in which she was banned from the sport for 15-months, Sharapova revealed in Vanity Fair that her injured 'body has become a distraction' and is hanging up her tennis racket for good.
Sharapova said, 'How do you leave behind the only life you've ever known? How do you walk away from the courts you've trained on since you were a little girl, the game that you love — one which brought you untold tears and unspeakable joys—a sport where you found a family, along with fans who rallied behind you for more than 28 years? I'm new to this, so please forgive me. Tennis—I'm saying goodbye.'
She posted on Instagram, 'Tennis showed me the world — and it showed me what I was made of. It's how I tested myself and how I measured my growth. And so in whatever I might choose for my next chapter, my next mountain, I'll still be pushing. I'll still be climbing. I'll still be growing.'
Sharapova came to the United States in 2004 from Russia when she was 17-years-old to develop her tennis game in Florida. She would later become Serena Williams rival on the court.
Photo: Maria Sharapova of Russia celebrates winning her first round Women's Singles match against Simona Halep of Romania on Day One of the 2017 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 28, 2017 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)